Derelict government building is a gold mine for squatters
THE Gauteng provincial government’s abandoned building on the corner Pretorius and Bosman streets in Pretoria has turned into a gold mine for squatters as they continue to vandalise it for scrap.
The old Road and Transport offices’ front windows have been shattered and the scanning machines at the entrance have been damaged. The building has only one security guard on the site.
One of the informal settlers told the Saturday Star they were not afraid of the security guard as he didn’t care if they entered the premises.
“We are doing this not because we are being silly, but we need money to survive, and when you have a trolley full of metal you can get enough money to last you for days. So, every day, we gain entry here and we go our separate ways, some go to the garage and some to upper-level floors.
“The building is big enough for all of us, so we don’t fight for space and sometimes we work together,” he said.
“On Thursday, police arrested a few of us for gaining entry to the offices, but we went back and did what we needed to,” he said.
A security guard on site said that there was nothing he could do as he worked alone. The building was huge, so he just turned a blind eye.
“At first there would be three of us on site, then it was easier for us to patrol the building, and that was before the front glass windows were broken. I see these boys when they enter and some of them (do so) in front of me,” the security guard said.
He added that there was not much inside the building except some equipment that was still in good condition.
Attempts to contact the Department of Infrastructure spokesperson, Alfred Nhlapo, were unsuccessful.
Initially, the provincial government said abandoned buildings in Johannesburg would form part of the Kopanong Precinct Project, formerly known as the Gauteng Provincial Government Precinct, which was launched in 2003 and was expected to be completed in three to five years.
The project arose from the government’s ownership of its 19 buildings in the Johannesburg CBD that needed to be refurbished.
According to the Gauteng government website, construction would have involved the rehabilitation and redevelopment of up to 21 buildings in Johannesburg’s city centre.